Category Archives: God’s Promises

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June 3, 2024

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Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, God's Plan, God's Promises, God's Word: The Bible

LAST WORDS

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [John 19:30 (ESV)]

It’s been said that Leonardo da Vinci’s last words were, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” A scientist, painter, architect, mathematician, musician, sculptor, geologist, botanist, historian, cartographer, and inventor, da Vinci was a true Renaissance man and it’s difficult to understand how he could feel he failed God or anyone else.

I hope my last words won’t be as depressing as da Vinci’s or as foolish as those of Major General John Sedgwick who, just moments before he was shot and killed during the Civil War, said, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance!” I’d like to think my last words will be as faith-filled as those of blues singer Bessie Smith’s, “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord!” or Harriet Tubman’s, “Give my love to the churches. Tell the women to stand firm. I go to prepare a place for you.”  Nevertheless, my words probably will be as mundane Elvis Presley’s, “I’m going to the bathroom to read.”

While Nostradamus correctly predicted his death when he said, “Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here,” most of us won’t know when the words we speak will be our last ones. Jesus, however, knew his earthly life was ending when He spoke from the cross. He’d been hanging there for several hours and the weight of his body pulling down on his arms meant he could barely breathe. John tells us Jesus said, “It is finished!” and then died. After hearing those words, can you imagine the heartbreak of His followers? This was Jesus, the man who calmed storms, fed thousands, and healed lepers! This was the promised Messiah! How could it be finished? Everything His disciples believed and hoped for was gone! Was this how their story would end?

Last words, however, aren’t always what they seem. Jesus’ words and the crucifixion were only the end of the first act. What the disciples didn’t understand on that dark Friday afternoon was that the story was just getting started. Three days later, the resurrection opened the second act. Forty days after His resurrection, the second act closed with Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Although He spoke to the disciples and blessed them before His departure, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John included different portions of Jesus’ final words. Nevertheless, His message was the same: our sins are forgiven, we are to go out into the world and make disciples, and the power of the Holy Spirit is promised. When Jesus physically left the disciples with His ascension into heaven, the second act ended, but the words He spoke were not His final ones. Because He promised both His presence and His return, we know there’s more to come!

The third act began with the Spirit’s presence on Pentecost and continued when Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus and revealed Himself to John on Patmos. While probably less dramatic than Paul’s encounter and less graphic than John’s, the Lord continues to speak to us today through His living word (the Bible), prayer, and in the Holy Spirit’s beautiful whisper. The only last words to be spoken in the third act will be ours when we depart the stage—whether they are as mundane as those of Elvis or as memorable as da Vinci’s. Nevertheless, when the curtain closes for us, the story still is not over!

The glorious fourth act begins when we come home to Jesus and hear His voice again. This final act has no ending and there will be no last words spoken. It never is finished and the curtain never will fall!

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [John 14:1-3 (ESV)]

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [John 5:25 (ESV)]

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March 28, 2024

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Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Grace & Love, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days, Salvation: A New You

THE NEW COVENANT (MAUNDY THURSDAY)

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” [Luke 22:19-12 (ESV)]

holy communionToday is Maundy (or Holy) Thursday—the day many Christians throughout the world will observe the institution of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist/Holy Communion by coming to the Lord’s table. Regardless of what you call this sacrament, Jesus’ mention of a “new covenant” probably will be part of your service. Not a word commonly used today, what is a covenant and how does it differ from a contract?

Both covenants and contracts are binding agreements but, in a contract, the parties negotiate from fairly equal bargaining positions and are free not to sign. Although both parties are expected to abide by its terms, a contract has contingencies. If either party fails to hold up their end of the bargain, the contract is null and void and the relationship ends.

A covenant, however, is not between equals. With no negotiation, it is more like an agreement between the conquering king and the conquered people! While contracts can be amended, covenants are unalterable. In a covenant, the parties agree to hold up their end of the deal even if the other party doesn’t. While a failure on one side or the other will yield consequences, it will not negate the relationship. In Scripture we find covenants between God and Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, and David. In them, God promised to provide, protect, and bless his people while they promised to trust and obey him and repent when they didn’t.

God’s standard is perfection but, regardless of how hard we try, we can’t be perfect. As we know from the Old Testament, the people repeatedly failed to keep their promises. In a contractual relationship, that failure would have ended their relationship with God. Fortunately, it was a covenant relationship and, while the Israelites incurred God’s judgment for their disobedience, they never were abandoned. The Hebrew Scriptures promised a new covenant in God’s words to Jeremiah—a covenant uniting God with His people—a covenant of grace in which God fulfilled both sides of the agreement.

When Jesus blessed the bread and wine in that upper room in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago, a new covenant with God began. Jesus did not negate the law. There was nothing wrong with the law; the problem was with the people who couldn’t abide by it. In the old covenant, people were told what to do (and not to do) to get right with God but, in the new covenant, the getting right with God was done for us by Jesus.

The old covenant required the blood of animals and yearly atonement; the new covenant is for eternity and was satisfied with the sacrifice of God’s only Son. The old covenant was one of the law and works but the new one is one of grace and faith. Instead of the law being written on tablets, it is written on our hearts. The old covenant was signified by circumcision but the new covenant is shown by a change of heart. The old covenant found God in the Temple in Jerusalem but the new finds Him in the temple of the Spirit. The old covenant was one of bondage and the new is one of liberty. The old covenant was established on Mt. Sinai for Israel alone; the new was established on the cross and is for all mankind. It was with Jesus that the old covenant ended and it was with Him that the new covenant began. What was the Last Supper of the old covenant became the First Supper of the new one!

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV)]

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December 28, 2023

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Fear & Doubt, God's Plan, God's Promises, Patience & Perseverance

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. [2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)]

Along the road to the Serengeti, somewhere near the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, is a crescent-shaped sand dune. Measuring about 30-feet in height and 328-feet long along its curves, it is known as the Shifting Sands. Rich in iron and highly magnetized, the sand sticks to itself when tossed in the air. When the wind blows, its particles fall back on the dune rather than get carried away by the breeze. The dune, however, is constantly on the move as the prevailing winds slowly move the entire thing across the land. Moving about 50-feet a year, it’s believed that the Shifting Sands have been traveling the savannah for more than three thousand years, sometimes changing both shape and direction. Of course, the dune moves so gradually that you don’t see its motion. Nevertheless, stakes in the ground indicate its location in previous years.

Like the Shifting Sands, God often appears to be standing still. David was anointed king as a boy but he didn’t rule over all of Israel until he was 37 years old. After being promised a son, Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years before Isaac’s birth. It was 22 years between Joseph’s prophetic dream that his brothers would bow to him and the day they did! Think of the centuries that passed between God’s promise of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants and Israel’s arrival there. By the time Jesus was born, thousands of years had passed since God’s first promise of a Savior in Genesis 3, one thousand had passed since God’s promise in 2 Samuel that David’s line would continue eternally, and about 700 years had elapsed since the many Messianic prophecies found in Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah! God wasn’t quick but He made good on His promises—God always does!

God moves at His own pace—and it often seems undetectable at the time. Just because we don’t see Him move, however, doesn’t mean He’s standing idly by, forgotten His promises, or ignoring His children. God works in the unseen and just because we can’t see His hand at work doesn’t mean it isn’t happening! I never saw the Shifting Sands move and yet I know they moved 1½ to 3 inches the day I was there!

Like Tanzania’s moving dune, more is happening in God’s realm than meets our mortal eyes. As Christians, we must “live by believing and not by seeing,” and “walk by faith, not by sight.” [2 Corinthians 5:7] We live by believing in God’s promises—rather than what we think we see (or don’t see) in our world! God often seems incredibly slow but His time is not the same as ours and His perspective is far broader than ours! More is happening than meets the eye! God’s promises never fail and He always is right on time!

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. [Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)]

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. [2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT)]

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December 25, 2023

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Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days, Thanks & Praise

INCARNATION DAY

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [John 1:14 (ESV)]

The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation. [J.I. Packer]

During the children’s Christmas program at our northern church, the tots would sing “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” by the manger and then return to their room to enjoy birthday cake. Like them, most people would say that Christmas commemorates the birthday of Jesus but that’s not quite correct. Jesus doesn’t really have a birthday! He was God and, as God, He always was, always is, and forever will be. Although Mary gave birth, “incarnation” is the more accurate term for what began in Nazareth nine months earlier and culminated in Bethlehem. Coming from the Latin incarnare, meaning “to make flesh,” the word “incarnation” embodies the meaning of John 1:14: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Put simply, when Jesus came into the world, God the Son took on a human body and a human life like ours. The One who was there before the stars were hung in the sky, the One who was spirit and without physical body, came to earth clothed in human flesh.

When Jesus became incarnate, His nature changed but His position didn’t. He still was fully God and we see His “Godness” in His actions and words. He fulfilled over 350 Messianic prophecies—something no mere mortal could do. He was born of a virgin, had the authority to forgive, knew the future, stilled storms, healed miraculously, brought the dead back to life, and knew what was in people’s hearts. Jesus walked on water, cast out demons, and demons recognized Him. He accepted people’s worship (which would have been blasphemous were He not God) and He resurrected from the dead! Jesus claimed He fulfilled prophecies and existed before Abraham and said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” [John 14:11] Indeed, Jesus was Immanuel—God with us!

Although Jesus was fully divine, at the same time, He also was fully human. He may have been conceived miraculously, but He developed in a woman’s womb like any other human baby. When Jesus entered the world through a birth canal, He took His first breath into his human lungs and cried like a baby. He grew into manhood the same way every other boy does—with skinned knees and bruises. Looking like any other Galilean of His day, Scripture tells us that Jesus ate, walked, spoke, read, listened, learned, and even paid His taxes. He wore clothing, went to the Temple, prayed, perspired, and bled. He grew thirsty and drank, grew tired and slept, was vulnerable to physical harm, experienced temptation, and could both touch and be touched. He experienced betrayal and abandonment and expressed human emotions like anger, joy, curiosity, sorrow, and disappointment. Even though He was fully God, Jesus chose to suffer as a man and die a mortal man’s physical death.

When Jesus became incarnate, He willingly gave up the majesty, glory, and divine attributes of God (apart from the direction of God the Father) to take on the limitations and pains of human life. He laid aside his “Godness” to live as a man with all the pain, discomfort, weakness, bodily functions, and limitations that accompany our bodies! Even though He wasn’t “born,” He was human in every way but one. Unlike every person since Adam and Eve, in spite of being tempted, Jesus managed to live a sinless life. He lived the life we should live (but can’t) and died the death we all deserve (but won’t receive). That’s what Christmas is all about!

Let us all celebrate the glorious day “the word became flesh” all year long!

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [John 1:9-13 (ESV)]

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December 21, 2023

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Bible Stories, God's Plan, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days, Thanks & Praise

UNEXPECTED

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)]

Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. [Charles Wesley]

I imagine the shepherds probably were more concerned with making it through the night warm, safe, and without losing any sheep than they were with the eventual arrival of the promised Messiah. They certainly never expected an angel to appear to announce His birth nor did they anticipate a host of angels singing God’s praises. Nevertheless, it was shepherds who received the good news that a child was born—a child who would be their Savior, Messiah, and Lord.

Shouldn’t this news have been given to the wealthy, powerful, or religious rather than a group of shepherds in a field?  Shepherds, especially those charged with the night watch, were among the lowest of the low. Considered disreputable, rough, dirty, ritually  unclean, and possibly dangerous, it hardly seems logical that outcast shepherds were the first ones to get Jesus’ birth announcement!

Then again, everything about the Christmas story is contrary to expectations. In fact, the Christmas story doesn’t even begin with Jesus; it begins with an angel, an old priest named Zechariah, his barren wife Elizabeth, a miraculous pregnancy, and a prophecy. When it finally gets to Jesus, we find an angel visiting the Galilean village of Nazareth, a place so insignificant that it’s not even mentioned in the Old Testament, Talmud, or even the historic writings of Josephus! It was hardly the hometown of a king! One would expect God to select a royal princess as the mother of His only Son instead of a young peasant girl. As a virgin, Mary certainly never expected a pregnancy before marriage nor did her fiancé Joseph.

Although Micah prophesied that the promised Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem only because of a census. When Mary’s time came, she gave birth to God’s Son in a borrowed stable, farm animals served as midwives, and the Prince of Peace lay in a feed trough instead of a splendid crib. Rather than royal courtiers, the King of Kings was surrounded by lowly shepherds and, instead of extravagant robes, the Lion of Judah was wrapped in rags. Other than the shepherds, it seems that the only people who took notice of Christ’s arrival were pagan astrologers from the East. Then, once the child’s presence became known to Herod, He was hunted instead of welcomed and His family fled in terror to Egypt! None of this fits the way we’d expect a Messiah’s story to go if we were writing it. Fortunately, we weren’t!

Yes, Messiah had been long expected but He came in a most unexpected way! None of this seems to makes sense until we understand that God didn’t come for the rich and mighty; He came for the poor and the lowly. He came for shepherds and lepers and the crippled, hungry, and poor. He came for the woman with the blood disorder, blind Bartimaeus, the woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, and the Gentile demoniac in the Gerasenes. He came for tax-collectors like Zacchaeus and Matthew/Levi, zealots like Simon, and fishermen like Peter, John, James, and Andrew.  He came for the thief on the cross, the widow of Nain, Jarius and his daughter, the Syrophoenician woman and her daughter, and the Roman centurion. He even came for Pharisees like Nicodemus and rich council members like Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus came for people like you and me—the  ordinary, flawed, and sinful beings that we are.

The people of Judah expected a conquering king who would overthrow the Romans but what the world got was a King who overthrew Satan and conquered sin and death!

God never just meets our expectations; He surpasses them as only God can do! Thank you, God!

Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne. [Charles Wesley]

His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! [Isaiah 9:7 (NLT)]

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December 18, 2023

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, God's Plan, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days, Patience & Perseverance, Today: Make it Count, Trusting God

OH COME, IMMANUEL (5) – THE SECOND ADVENT

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all. But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. [Malachi 4:1-3 (NLT)]

In the first Advent, Jesus came as a suffering servant in a manger. In His second Advent, Jesus will return in righteousness as the conquering King who makes all things right. His return means the final destruction of sin, injustice, hate, disease, death, decay and evil. Our God, however, is one of both mercy and judgement and Malachi’s promise of the Messiah included a warning about the coming day of judgment.

Jesus spoke of this coming judgment when He likened the division between believers and unbelievers to a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. True believers, however, don’t need to cower in fear at the prospect of judgment. Clothed in His righteousness, they will stand before Jesus forgiven of every single sin. As the faithful, they are the righteous sheep and destined for eternal life in the kingdom. The goats, however, are those who refuse to believe and they are destined for eternal punishment.

The early church thought Jesus would return within their lifetimes but 2,000 years have passed and He still hasn’t returned. Peter explained the delay: “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” [2 Peter: 8-9]

Nevertheless, the day will come when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. He told us that we must be ready for that day. Just as a thief strikes an unsuspecting house by surprise, Jesus will catch an unbelieving world the same way. On that day, Almighty God will assess everyone according to their soul’s status and, when that happens, there will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance or bargaining.

It is in Christ’s return that we see the promises of God fully come to pass – promises to be with His people – promises that all things will be made new – promises of peace and security – promises of the full enjoyment of all that life was meant to be.

“God’s home is now among his people!” prophesied John in Revelation 21. “He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” [21:3-4]

This season of Advent is more than a time of preparation to celebrate Christmas; it is a time of preparation to focus our hearts, wills, and minds on Christ’s return—not as the end of the world—but as the beginning of the life as God intended it to be lived—a time when peace and justice will prevail and there will be no death, sorrow, or tears.

2,000 years ago, the people of Judah longed for the promised Messiah and, recognizing mankind’s need for a savior, God answered their prayer with Jesus. As Christians in the 21st century, we long for Messiah’s return and, someday, God will make good on that promise, as well.

The question to ask ourselves during this season isn’t whether we’re ready for Christmas. The question we should be asking is whether we’re ready for that glorious day when Jesus returns.

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” [Acts 1:11 (NLT)]

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. [John 14:1-3 (NLT)]

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